Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness aims to create permanent housing in Kent County

Hollyn Johnson | The Grand Rapids Press Adrienne McGee and her three sons, from left, Anthony, 2, Antonio, 4, and Willie, 7, are homeless and staying this week at Cornerstone United Methodist Church through the Interfaith Hospitality Network program while she looks for a job and affordable housing.

After Natasha Boatman moved to Grand Rapids from Chicago, she learned about grace the hard way. She lost a job and could not pay rent. The Salvation Army placed her in a shelter, then an apartment. But her new job was unsteady and, before long, she was back in a shelter with her two children.

That's when volunteers at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church stepped in.

With their help, Boatman was able to finish classes, graduate with a certified nursing assistant degree and find a job in her field.

Katy Batdorff | The Grand Rapids PressNatasha Boatman and her daughter, Tashianna, make tacos for dinner in their Kentwood apartment. Boatman was homeless before she found help through the Congregational Partnership Program.

Her daughter, once distraught with living in a nearly empty apartment, is getting A's and B's in school with help from church tutors.

Boatman is grateful to St. Thomas and the Congregational Partnership Program. Its 14 churches work with people who are homeless or at-risk and provide stable housing while, sometimes, building friendships.

"I felt blessed when they stepped in," Boatman said. "It really speaks when people come in and don't know you from a can of paint but help you."

The key to her turnaround is a new approach to ending homelessness in Kent County.
Formidable odds

The Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness is trying to steer people away from shelters and into permanent housing, with social services at hand -- a more efficient and humane approach than the traditional model, leaders say.

"We're trying to shift from this crisis response to the prevention response," said Janay Brower, coalition coordinator. "It's far cheaper and (more) appropriate and successful to keep people in housing or get them into housing as soon as possible, as opposed to making them go through shelter programs."

The effort to end homelessness faces formidable odds. An annual January count of the homeless found 844 people in shelters, transitional housing or on the street -- a 5 percent increase from last year.

The plan, three years in the making, kicked into high gear in late February. It includes a more centralized and comprehensive housing assessment program by the Salvation Army's Booth Family Services and a goal of taking 50 shelter beds out of service by year's end.

"The point of this is to reduce the need for shelter because we have people in permanent housing," Brower said.

Shelter officials say they support the objective.

"It should be the goal of every one of us in this entire area to work ourselves out of a job," said Bill Shaffer, the program director at Guiding Light Mission.

Grand Rapids Area Coalition to End Homelessness

• 70 agency members

• 200 individual partners

• 5 full-service shelters with 90 beds

• 2 mission shelters with 191 beds

• 2 domestic violence shelters with 45 beds

New intake process

• A person without a home or at risk is referred to the Housing Assessment Program at Salvation Army Booth Family Services.

• Housing action plan is developed.

• The client is helped with temporary housing or prevention/intervention such as rent subsidy. Permanent housing is the goal.

• A housing resource specialist helps to meet housing plan.

• When stable housing is achieved, the client knows where to go to avoid another crisis.

But some are concerned the coalition is moving too quickly to close shelters and their support systems, possibly leaving some homeless people out in the cold.

"I admire that they're trying," said Mary Kay Baker, director of the Interfaith Hospitality Network. "But I have a hard time in this economy to just arbitrarily say, '(By) December, we're just done.' "

The IHN's 14 member congregations house homeless families for up to a week, providing meals, showers, laundry and activities for children in their churches.The 12-year-old nonprofit last year housed 63 families.

Baker said 80 percent of those families found permanent housing -- higher than the 42 percent average of shelter occupants overall who find housing, according to Brower.

The coalition plan calls for IHN to close its beds by year's end. Casa de la Paz, a women and children's shelter run by the Grand Rapids Catholic Diocese, also has been told it will not receive funding or referrals from the Salvation Army after this year, said Deborah McCormack, CEO of Catholic Charities.

"Of course, we're disappointed," McCormack said. "We love our program and think we do great work."

A study is under way to find new uses for the 19-bed facility at 1935 Plainfield Ave. NE, she said, adding, "We'll continue to be part of the answer (to homelessness) in our community."

While shelters may feel pinched by the change, they have known for a long time it was coming, Brower said.

"This has not been easy for a lot of agencies to swallow," Brower acknowledged. "We're talking about really serious change. That never comes without opposition."

Baker insisted she will gladly go out of the shelter business if IHN beds are not needed. But she worries premature closings could leave many homeless people in unsafe circumstances.

"Because we take away 50 beds does not mean we end homelessness in Grand Rapids," Baker said.

Brower agreed, adding, "We're not going to take off shelter beds until we know we don't need them."

For now, officials are working to find alternatives to shelters since the newly centralized Salvation Army intake process began Feb. 23. More people seeking help have been able to stay in or find housing, Brower said.

"They walk in and ask for shelter, and it ends up there's a resource available for them and they can get into housing," Brower said.
New approach

The revised intake system has expanded to include single males, not just women and families as in the past. It works up housing action plans designed to help people stay in or find housing, possibly including rent subsidies and other assistance.

Of an estimated 100 clients in the first two weeks, a little more than half were referred to agencies to help them find housing, said Betty Zylstra, director of Booth Family Services.

Zylstra acknowledged it has been a challenge to keep up with calls -- one phone line had 450 calls the first week.

"I can't say that no one's falling through the cracks, but the idea is that that doesn't happen," Brower said. "They're working to meet the need, even though the need is greater than anticipated."

Zylstra said part of the initial surge was people who had been mistakenly told to call the housing assistance program, even though they were already staying in a shelter or another facility. Those agencies are still responsible for helping people find housing, she said.

Officials won't know for a while whether they can meet the demand with current staff, because they don't know how many single men and those in danger of homelessness will seek help, she added.

"There's fewer jobs, so people who didn't necessarily think they might be in a housing crisis are now saying 'I'm not sure,' " she said.

But the new program has produced touching stories.One woman who asked for shelter walked out with tears of joy and a plan to help her find housing, Zylstra said.

"I know there's people who think (the new system) doesn't make sense with this economic crisis," she added. "Maybe this is exactly the right time to say, 'We cannot keep doing this the same way.' "

Making friends

An important part of the new way is the Congregational Partnership Program. The three-year-old program run by the Grand Rapids Area Center for Ecumenism has helped 18 families so far.

The program relies on volunteers such as Kristi Didaskalou. She is excited that her congregation, Tabernacle Community Church, cannot only help at-risk families financially but try to keep them housed.

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What: Learn about the Congregational Partnership Program's effort to end homelessness

"It's an amazing opportunity for us to have a relational ministry, rather than 'Here's some money' and 'Make some phone calls,' " Didaskalou said.

CPP coordinator Lori Fedewa said a congregation needs only a small group of volunteers. They provide friendship, inviting families to dinner and talking about goals. They might help with a move or finding furniture, tutoring and transportation.

A church also can make a financial commitment -- $3,500 is suggested -- for rent subsidy. A housing resource specialist helps families with finances. The CPP has raised $133,000, spending about $58,000 in household support.

Leigh Moerdyke, a CPP volunteer with Mars Hill Bible Church, has kept in touch with a family even though her yearlong commitment is up.

"It's not about changing people," Moerdyke said. "It's more just about caring for people, being a support system, being community."